"Delightful to play, with its own character and sounds... recommended"

Roger Newell • Guitarist Magazine • September 2013

The BMG Bass is a medium scale instrument, made in the same spirit as Brian’s iconic Red Special, with a compact, bound, double cutaway mahogany body and 31.5” scale neck, topped with a smooth, 20 fret ebony fingerboard.

The ‘Bri Bass’ is strung with Bass Centre Elites "Detroit" flatwound strings for super-smooth fundamentals and, in keeping with the classic Red Special styling, finished in a rich Antique Cherry with a one-piece black scratchplate.

Sonically, he finds even more to be excited about... "The basic sound - both pickups on, with the tone knob at full - is excellent: nice and fat with growling lows and an overall feeling of controlled aggression".

In his summary, we think Gareth is right on the money when he declares the BMG Bass "an unusual and fine-looking beast with a heap of ’60s flavour which harks back to wilder times".

Better still, he found it "highly playable and great fun to whizz around on"... isn't that what bass playing should always be about!?

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<< Read the online version at the Guitar & Bass website

Roger Newell • Guitarist Magazine • September 2012

"Delightful to play, with its own character and sounds – recommended"

Whilst Roger Newell admits that he initially found the concept of a Brian May style bass "a somewhat curious design choice", the Guitarist Magazine veteran and bass guru certainly seems to have warmed to the idea, discovering that the BMG Bass is "well styled", "nicely built" and delivers an "unexpected variety of solid sounds".

In this 4 Star Review, Roger concludes that "If you want something off the beaten track, the Brian May Bass has a great deal to offer".

I find this bass to be very nice with a great tone and low action. The finish is beautiful.

The only issue I have, which is minor, is that the knobs are not level. In other words, when holding the bass and looking down at the knobs, they are tilted, higher on one side than the other; not flat with an even amount of space between the underside of the knobs and the top of the guitar. When you look from the front you don't notice it, but I rarely look from the front as I am playing it. Are they just press fit knobs that I can reseat? I've never seen this before and I own 26 basses.

The control knobs are not 'press-fit knobs'. They are removed by using one of the allen keys provided with the instrument to loosen the grub screw in the side of each knob. It is then possible to re-seat.

Otherwise, glad the bass has found favour.

The BMG Team

Rating:

Strange kind of bass !

Monday, 26 September 2016 | Ludovic

As a bass player for a long time and fan of Dr. May, I was interested in this beautiful instrument.

When I opened the box it was a good surprise, as beautiful as my BMG Special. The knobs look better! No trouble with the weight! The scale is good and playing with pick-up knobs can give you a good sound between the hell of the humbucker and the sharpness of the single.

The width of the neck is quite huge but doesn't give me any trouble. Mine had been shipped without flatwound strings, I changed the roundwound for flats and it's really better, smoother.

The electronics are also good quality - no noise, no scratches. Plugged in my fuzz, I can have a bigger feedback on my amp than my guitarist. I really enjoy this bass... if you're thinking about something different in shape with an amazing groove, buy it.

Just a personal observation... I recently bought a BMG Bass and really love the the sound and medium scale. If I'm being honest, coming from playing a Fender Jazz, with its 38mm neck, if the BMG bass had a tad narrower neck (45mm is a bit wide) to me, it would be the perfect bass.

As said, just a personal preference. It's the only thing to me that lets it down. Love it otherwise!